Modded Zalman 7000-cu or AMD x2 4600 Stock cooler.

Cooling Processors quietly

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

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bsdie
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Location: Lund, Sweden

Modded Zalman 7000-cu or AMD x2 4600 Stock cooler.

Post by bsdie » Mon Aug 21, 2006 6:51 am

If I get the "good" stock cooler with 4-heatpipes Im considering using it together with an 80mm nexus fan to cool a x2 4600. My other option would be my old 7000-cu modded with a 92mm nexus fan.

Wich has the best cooling ability? The stock AMD seems to have the same cooling ability as an XP-90, wich should be comparable to a 7000-cu. And will the they be able to cool a 4600 x2 properly, with just one ADDA 16db fan next to the CPU?

Any thoughts or experiences are welcome.

Lawrence Lee
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Post by Lawrence Lee » Mon Aug 21, 2006 7:23 am

I have the AMD heatpipe cooler on my Venice 3000+ right now with a volt-modded Coolermaster fan 80mm fan. Performance is somewhat lackluster... but I do have it overclocked to 270FSB.

00alesmi
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Post by 00alesmi » Wed Aug 30, 2006 1:02 pm

Hey.

I too have the Athlon heatpipe stock cooler and was wondering whether to buy a nexus 80mm to replace the stock fan. Did you go ahead with the nexus on the stock cooler in the end? If so, did it work ok and would you advise doing it. Didn't know whether I should go for a fan that moves more air.

Thanks

bsdie
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Location: Lund, Sweden

Post by bsdie » Sat Sep 02, 2006 3:26 pm

Just came home for a short vacation in portugal this very night. Ill most likely be installing the 4600+ with the stock cooler and 80mm nexus tomorrow 00alesmi. As soon as I do Ill let you know!

bsdie
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Joined: Mon Jan 24, 2005 3:57 am
Location: Lund, Sweden

Post by bsdie » Sun Sep 03, 2006 1:50 pm

Installed the heatsink + nexus today. Its idling at 54c (hot!) but I used a very small amount of AC5, wich wasnt very even. Ill try to reseat it tomorrow using a slightly thicker layer to se if it gets better. The heatsinks bottom isnt as clear as that of my old Zalman, so it likely needs more paste to get a proper connection to the processor.

bsdie
Posts: 42
Joined: Mon Jan 24, 2005 3:57 am
Location: Lund, Sweden

Post by bsdie » Sun Sep 03, 2006 2:51 pm

Couldnt brace myself so I went ahead and re-did the thermal paste. I applied a thin layer to the heatsink itself as well as a thicker layer to the cpu. The temps are idling at 52c now, so the improvement is almost nil. But Ill give the AC5 some time to sink in.

bsdie
Posts: 42
Joined: Mon Jan 24, 2005 3:57 am
Location: Lund, Sweden

Post by bsdie » Mon Sep 04, 2006 4:40 am

The AC5 has been left over night and Ive done some further testing. The break in period for AC5 is 200+ hours, but since its only supposed to drop 2-5c after that period I feel that its time to pass judgment.

First, my system:

Antec 180. The upper chamber is cooled by one ADDA intake fan at the front (950rpm) and its twin at the back. The top is sealed and the "fan" duct next to the graphics card is removed but with the intake left open to give the graphics card some extra air. The system is the 4600 x2 in question and a 7800gtx, no harddrives or such in the upper chamber.

Im guessing that the ambient temps indoors here are about 24-25 degrees. The ambient of the motherboard (passive ASUS) actually went down slightly with the new fan-heatsink, 39c during idle and barely rising on load. The Cpu is at 41c at idle, 5 minutes after the stress test. But.. during load it levels out at 52c.

Unlike my old 7000cu (on a 3700, not this cpu) the temps would go down fairly slowly when going from load to idle. This isnt the case with this heatsink, it goes straight down to 42c then to 41c. My guess is that the lesser amount of heavy copper + heatsinks helps the heatsink get rid of the heat faster then the massive 7000cu.

So my conclusion is: The Nexus isnt able to cool the 4600 x2 alone during full load, at least not with 2 slow moving fans and a 7800gtx in the case. Since the motherboard isnt very hot, and the rest of the system seems fine I doubt that a cooler graphics card would make much of a difference. A second fan at the top of the case would probably help, but Im trying to eliminate its need, and hence havent tested with it.

I hope this is helpful to anyone else who is interested in using the stock 4600 fan in conjunction with a nexus. With a slightly stronger fan, being controlled with speedfan as an example, Im sure it would do fine. But with the nexus It doest work very well in my system at least.

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